Latent Drivers of Customer Satisfaction in Trinidad and Tobago: Towards the Development of a National Customer Satisfaction Index
International Journal of Recent Innovations in Academic Research, 7 (11):
37-48 (November 2023)DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10252909
Abstract
Objective: People in Trinidad and Tobago frequently complain about the low customer satisfaction of service providers. This study examines and compares the latent determinants of customer satisfaction in three service sectors: ICT, tertiary education, and public utilities.
Methodology: The research employs quantitative, deductive, and positivist methodologies. The data was descriptively and inferentially analyzed. This multi-sector, multi-dimensional sample comprised 727 residential customers from three service sectors and seven enterprises. The sampling technique was based on practicality.
Results: This study discovered a robust positive correlation between eleven latent variables (consumer satisfaction factors). Then, to test how these hidden variables affected customer satisfaction theory, a conceptual model was made that combined them with a behavioral model. It was validated in Trinidad and Tobago and can be applied to analogous populations in developed and developing countries. It supports the notion that multiple factors can increase consumer satisfaction. Although more research is required to establish causality, leadership style, and labor unions impact consumer satisfaction.
Conclusion: This study concluded that eleven factors increase customer satisfaction in three service sectors: ICT, tertiary education, and public utilities.